A lower bound on the width of satellite knots

Abstract

Thin position for knots in the 3-sphere was introduced by Gabai and has been used in a variety of contexts. We conjecture an analogue to a theorem of Schubert and Schultens concerning the bridge number of satellite knots. For a satellite knot K, we use the companion torus T to provide a lower bound for w(K), proving the conjecture for K with a 2-bridge companion. As a corollary, we find thin position for any satellite knot with a braid pattern and 2-bridge companion.